


i admire you

by sae_what



Series: Ladrien June 2020 [5]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien Agreste Knows, Alternate Universe - No Miraculous, Badass Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Blushing, Bullying, Childhood, Childhood Friends, F/M, Flustered Adrien Agreste, Flustered Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Holding Hands, Kissing Injury, Ladrien June, Ladrien June 2020, Mutual Pining, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, ladrien, yet another shameless anime reference
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-12
Updated: 2020-07-12
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:08:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,778
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25230628
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sae_what/pseuds/sae_what
Summary: The heroine that saved Adrien as a child would most likely never return to him. Adrien had not quite come into terms with this fact.She went by the name of Ladybug.Days 28/29 - My Heroine/Sunset
Relationships: Adrien Agreste/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Series: Ladrien June 2020 [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1766767
Comments: 12
Kudos: 41





	i admire you

**Author's Note:**

> Warning: Bullying
> 
> I'm a big sucker for Childhood AUs, and even more of a sucker for Ladrien, so this happened.

Adrien Agreste admired one person in particular. 

It was the strangest kind of admiration, really. 

A stranger from his past, but not so much. Her strength and kindness... 

The way her hand embraced his under the sunset. 

She was his heroine. 

But much to his disappointment, it was most likely that the two would never cross paths again. 

And it was most likely that Adrien would never get to know who she was. 

* * *

Adrien knew it was a bad idea to sneak out of the house. One moment, he’d been caught in the adrenaline of pursuing freedom, and the next moment, he was chased down by his persistent school bullies. 

Even during the summertime, he couldn’t get a break.

Young children were evil, Adrien concluded. They’d go to any lengths to one up the other if it meant they’d be able to fit in. 

But Adrien knew fitting in wasn’t what he needed. He just needed these guys to leave him alone. 

He ran, out of breath, until he lost his step and skidded onto the dirt floor of the Parisian park, _Place des Vosges_.

“Leave me alone!” Adrien cried, feeling hot tears sting his eyes. 

The boys, three counting in total, simply giggled and smirked, as they cornered Adrien to a tree, his back pressed up against uncomfortable bark. 

Adrien, not removing his eyes from their deadly stare, patted his fingers on the dirt until he felt something small and smooth. He threw a rock at one of the taller boys, barely brushing against his shoulders. 

“Aw, is that all you’ve got, Agreste?” The tallest boy stuck out his lower lip to give him the fakest kind of sympathy. 

Adrien clenched his teeth, and as the boys drew closer, he flinched, blocking his sight with his shaking hands. 

He heard cry, and a thud not long after. 

The tallest boy sat on the dirt, rubbing his forehead furiously. 

Adrien peeked between his fingers. To his right was a young girl standing up on the park bench, masked with a polka-dotted piece of cloth that covered the rim of her eyes. 

“Picking on a fight with someone is shameful,” she scolded, her tone unwavering. “How about you boys spend your time doing something less pathetic?”

The two other boys didn’t hesitate to run after the girl, but before they could reach her, both the boys fell to the ground, rubbing the back of their hand between their eyebrows. 

_What.. just happened?_

The tallest of the bunch called, “You little brat, who do you think you are?”

The girl blew on her index finger that was loaded with a rubber band. “This _‘little brat’_ doesn’t mess around. If I were you,” she pointed the rubber band right at the boy’s forehead. “I’d run.”

One of the other boys shook the tallest one by the shoulder. “C’mon, let’s get out of here!”

As they scurried away from the park, the girl jumped down from the bench as she held her hand out in front of Adrien. 

“Hey.”

“H-hey...” Adrien managed, accepting her hand as she supported him up on his feet. 

The girl was probably around his age, wearing a cute bun tied together with a bright red ribbon, bangs that framed her masked face just right. 

She pointed down on his scraped knee. “You’re hurt.”

“I-I am?” Adrien looked down at where she was pointing. “I... guess I am. It doesn’t hurt too much though... It’s just a tiny scrape.”

“Still.” She let go of his hands, and the lack of warmth made Adrien feel less safe all over again. 

Instinctively, he reached back for her hand, as though the tips of his fingers were too drawn from the heat of hers, not wanting to let go. Her back straightening up from surprise, eyes widened and met his. 

“Sorry...” Adrien spoke bashfully. “Your hands are... nice.”

The girl’s cheeks began to flush pink. “Oh! Uh... Thank you? I think... you’re nice too!”

“What’s your name?” Adrien asked, childlike excitement not leaving his breath. 

“Ladybug,” she answered simply. 

Adrien gave her a warm giggle. “No, I mean, what’s your _name_ name?” 

The girl gave him a quick squeeze on his hand before she let go. She held a finger to her lips, giving him a wink. “A superhero never reveals her identity.”

Adrien picked up on the girl’s stubbornness; there was no use in pushing. “Oh, uh, okay... I guess I’ll start calling you Ladybug then!”

Ladybug’s eyes lit up, her lips weaving into a wide grin that made Adrien’s heart skip a beat. 

She cleared her throat, breaking eye contact. “Let me fix you up.” Ladybug reached inside her black-and-red fanny pack and held out a bandaid between her fingers. “A superhero always comes prepared.”

She kneeled down, peeling off the bandaid and pressing it gently on Adrien’s scraped knee. 

She paused, frozen as she eyed his bandages knee.

“Uh, Ladyb—“

Ladybug quickly gave his knee a small peck before she stood back up, blushing profusely.

“S-sorry! I don’t know why I did that!” she buried her rosy red face in her hands. 

Adrien felt the heat rise to his cheeks, but ignored it, slowly reaching for her hand so he could see her face, and kissed between her knuckles. 

“There. That’s fair, right?” Adrien smiled. “Now we both got a kiss from each other!”

Ladybug gasped joyfully, her wide grin returning as if she hadn’t been embarrassed just a few seconds ago. Still, the redness in her cheeks hadn’t subsided. 

“How about I walk you home?”

Adrien nodded. “That would be nice.”

The sun slowly began to set, shading the skies with a beautiful citrus orange and light lilac. 

Adrien’s hand began to sweat in Ladybug’s hand, either from the summer heat or from the anxiety of basking in the presence of whoever this girl was. His heart began to race, mentally telling his hand to stop sweating, but of course that wouldn’t work. 

Fortunately, Ladybug didn’t seem too bothered. She smiled, looking up at the sunset. 

“So, what’s your name?” Ladybug asked, her gaze not leaving the clouds. 

Adrien hesitated. Instead of giving her a direct answer, a smirk formed in his lips. “Well, now, it isn’t fair for me to give away my name without knowing yours.”

“Ladybug _is_ my name! I told you!” she pouted. 

Adrien couldn’t resist a laugh. “Okay, okay. But I can’t give away my name. I guess we’ll both have our secrets.” Anyway, he wasn’t sure how comfortable he was giving away that he was an Agreste. 

Ladybug sighed. “I guess that’s fair.”

Finally, they reached Adrien’s place, the gates opening in front of them. 

“This is it.”

Ladybug looked at the Agreste mansion from top to bottom. “You live _here_?”

“Yeah,” Adrien chirped. “You should come by again?” His statement came out as more of a question, leaving Ladybug to decide on an answer. 

“Duty calls!” Ladybug finalized, after a hum in thought. “I’m not sure a superhero has time to visit personal friends.”

_Friends?_

“Well, I hope one day I’ll get a chance to see you again.”

“Me too.” The hopeful tone in her voice made Adrien’s frown curve into a warm smile. 

She scooped something from her fanny pack, then placed it on the palm of his hand. 

He narrowed his eyes with curiosity. “Rubber bands?” 

“For protection,” she simplified. 

Silence drew between them before Adrien finally cut in and said, “Thank you.”

Ladybug gave him a small nod. “I should go now. Bug out!” She ran out of the Agreste premises as Adrien watched her disappear along with the sunset, the light oranges soon fading into dark blues. 

He had just made a friend. 

His chest filled with a sort of hope and remorseful feeling. Hopeful that she’d return. 

Remorseful with the fact that she probably wouldn’t. 

* * *

“I can’t tonight!” Marinette croaked. “I... have to... babysit?” She gritted her teeth, as if hoping her excuse would land. 

It didn’t. 

“Marinette, you said that _yesterday_ , girl!” Alya crossed her arms across her chest. “Try again.”

Marinette frantically shoved her stuff into her book bag. “I have to walk the dog! Bye!”

She ran out the classroom door, throwing her book bag over her shoulder. 

“Does she even _have_ a dog..?” Alya muttered, then shifted her gaze at Adrien. “What do you think she’s up to?”

Adrien gave her a small shrug, and he couldn’t help but smile at Marinette’s flakiness. 

Whatever it was, Adrien was sure it was something important at least. Marinette always found herself wrapped up in so many things, taking on different responsibilities and carrying burdens she may not even need to. Adrien admired that about her. Her rigor, her sense of duty and drive... She was like a super heroine. 

The sun gradually began to set. Winter was finally coming to a close, and springtime was finally upon them. It was the perfect day to enjoy the warming weather. 

Adrien was grateful for his bodyguard; with a few amounts of light pleading, he finally gave in and drove him to the one place Adrien hadn’t visited in a while for his leisure: the park, _Place des Vosges_.

The one place where he had first met Ladybug. And it was his last. 

It was a shame, really. He had hoped that she’d change her mind and take his invitation to his place to heart, but... she never came back. 

Adrien settled on the very bench Ladybug had stood when she had come to his rescue. He couldn’t help but smile at the memory as he reached inside his bag for a book to read. 

But then something caught his eye. 

A familiar figure made audible shooting noises with her mouth. 

“Pew pew! Take that!”

Familiar pigtails swayed in the wind, bright red ribbons that tied them neatly. Bangs that framed her face just right... 

Her polka-dotted masked face whipped at his direction. 

Adrien’s eyes widened, as the girl, frantic, immediately removed her mask. He was greeted with freckles, soft red rosy cheeks, and grave panic in her eyes. 

“A-Adrien!” Marinette hid her hands behind her back. “Wh... what are you doing here?”

_You’re Ladybug._

... Was what Adrien could’ve said. Instead, he only mustered a stumbling response. “Oh! Uh, y’know nothing much. Just... here to enjoy the weather. You?”

“M-me too!” Marinette sat down beside him, shoving her mask in her book bag. “The weather is nice.”

“Yeah... it is.”

The two stayed in silence as they looked up at the citrus-painted skies, pink clouds stretching across its canvas. 

Adrien breathed in the feeling of closure. Of finally knowing who it was he admired the most. 

**Author's Note:**

> I did not expect myself to write another piece for Ladrien June, and yet, here we are.
> 
> If you didn't guess already, this is loosely based on a scene from the anime Daily Lives of High School Boys.
> 
> Thanks for reading! Comments and kudos are much appreciated <3
> 
> Tumblr: [sae-what](https://sae-what.tumblr.com/)


End file.
